My wife and I have the washer and dryer that came with our house. They're only 3 years old and in good condition. The previous owners tried to buy as cheap of ones as possible when they moved out (and can you blame them?). Both are Hotpoint brand and simple in design - turn dials to set the settings, etc.

The problem is that neither machine has a buzzer, and we have no idea when they finish their cycle.

I checked out Hotpoint's website and looked through all of the parts manuals and accessories, and they don't make a buzzer for any compatible model that I would be able to add in.

I have two solutions in mind:

1. Find/make a device that would live between the appliance's plug and the outlet, and would detect and buzz when the washer/dryer stopped pulling electricity to run the motor (keep in mind, these are cheap, so there aren't any "wrinkle-free" settings or anything that would keep the machine running). I didn't find a device that could do this, nor have any idea where to start making one.

2. Hack in a buzzer attached to the cycle dial, which moves from the selected cycle to "Off" as the cycle runs. I haven't looked at the wiring inside the control panel, so I don't know how difficult this would be. An issue that comes to my mind is that on both machines there are multiple off positions, one for each of the cycles.

After doing some research online, the only resource I could find was someone who had used a photo diode to detect when the "Cycle Complete" LED lit up on his washer. He had a home automation setup, so the house speakers announced that the cycle was done.

So, any thoughts, ideas, or links for me? I appreciate any help anyone can give - and I'm not afraid to tear things apart and start soldering! (as long as I know what I'm doing...)

You could use a Hall Effect Sensor. While the machine is in operation, the AC in the power cord will create a magnetic field. Attach the sensor to the cord with tape, and use a transistor to control a buzzer.

No, it doesn't. If we could afford it, I'd use the no buzzer excuse as a reason to get those really nice Samsung front loaders that they sell at Lowes.

BrozneG3 wrote:

You could use a Hall Effect Sensor. While the machine is in operation, the AC in the power cord will create a magnetic field. Attach the sensor to the cord with tape, and use a transistor to control a buzzer.

Wow.. there's an interesting idea. I've never heard of these before - anyone have experience using these?